health news

I know that you have read a lot about how you to get your teeth white. But most of them in the end says that you should spend a lot of money. Below I have found some advice how to keep teeth clean.



1. First you will need to check what you are eating and drinking. Coffee, smooking and red wine are the most thing that dirt on our teeth. So if you are smooking you need to stop smoking to get your teeth white again.



2. Try purchasing a new toothbrush. One that works very well, I have choosen the sonic toothbrush.



3. Buy special toothpaste that will help to whiten your teeth. There are dozens of toothpaste on the market that claim to whiten and brighten you smile. But the best thing to do is to talk with your dentist about this.



4. Don't forget to floss. You may not think so but flossing really does play an important role in keeping your teeth white and healthy. A large majority of dental problems are caused by the lack of flossing.



5. Visit your dentist constantly.

| Tags: Oral Care, Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Oral Care, Public Health

Posted by Klodian at 2:09 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

While a doctor's advice can encourage people to use car seats for children younger than four, there is less data on the effectiveness of counseling on motor vehicle restraint use for older kids and adults, according to a new study.

And there's no evidence that doctors can help prevent alcohol-related car crashes by warning patients about the risks of drunk driving, the study team found.

Motor vehicle accidents are the leading killer of people between 3 and 33 years of age in the US, the researchers note in their study, which was commissioned by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF).

In 1996, the USPSTF issued a recommendation urging primary care doctors to counsel their patients about using seatbelts, booster seats and car seats to help prevent car crash injuries.

In order to ensure widespread and appropriate use of motor vehicle restraints by adults and children, the USPSTF concludes, a multi-pronged approach including legislation, counseling, community-based efforts, and enforcement is necessary.

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine, August 2007.

| Tags: Public Health and Safety, Work and Life Health |

Labels: Children's Health, Public Health

Posted by Klodian at 10:19 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Compounds called anthocyanins, which give color to most red, purple and blue fruits and vegetables, may help protect against colon cancer, an Ohio State University study says.

The findings, presented Sunday at the American Chemical Society's annual meeting in Boston, may help advance knowledge about what gives fruits and vegetables their cancer-fighting properties which, in turn, could eventually lead to the development of new cancer treatments.

"These foods contain many compounds, and we're just starting to figure out what they are and which ones provide the best health benefits," lead author Monica Giusti, an assistant professor of food science at the university, said in a prepared statement.

More information
The American Cancer Society has more about healthy eating, exercise and cancer prevention.

| Tags: Cancer, Nutrition, Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Cancer, Colon Cancer, Nutrition, Public Health

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A vaccine designed to treat breast cancer appeared to be safe in women with advanced disease and showed signs of actually slowing down tumors, U.S. researchers reported on Friday.

Dendreon Corporation, maker of the Provenge prostate cancer vaccine, calls the new vaccine Neuvenge. It targets a type of breast cancer called her2/neu-positive breast cancer, which affects between 20 percent and 30 percent of breast cancer patients.

Like Provenge, Neuvenge is made using immune cells from the cancer patient, so it is a tailor-made vaccine.

SOURSE - Washington Post

| Tags: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Public Health and Safety, Women's Health |

Labels: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Public Health, Women's Health

Posted by Klodian at 9:52 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Black and Hispanic adults with arthritis are more likely than whites to become disabled from the joint disease, new research findings suggest.

In a study that followed nearly 7,300 Americans with arthritis for six years, researchers found that African-American patients were twice as likely to develop a disability as their white counterparts. The same was true of Hispanic adults who spoke Spanish as their primary language, but not primarily English-speaking Hispanic patients.

A range of factors -- from poorer overall health to lack of insurance to less-healthy lifestyles -- together explained the racial disparity, the study found.

SOURCE: Arthritis & Rheumatism, August 2007.

| Tags: Arthritis, Back Pain, Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Arthritis, Back Pain, Public Health

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It's a tip waiters and bartenders could do without.

A potent carcinogen rises quickly in restaurant and bar workers' urine after even brief exposures to secondhand smoke, a new U.S. study finds.

Concentrations of the cancer-causing toxin, called NNK, appear to rise steadily as bar workers' exposure continues, the researchers add.

NNK is "unsafe at any level," according to study lead author Michael Stark, a principal investigator in the health department of Multnomah County, Ore., which includes greater Portland.

"Even with a brief workplace exposure, we were able to detect increases in the level of NNK," Stark said. "On the average, there was a 6 percent increase per hour of work," he said.

Stark said he and his colleagues did the study because "there had been some prior research suggesting you could detect NNK in women and children in homes where workers had smoked."

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Policy Research Program, Stark and his colleagues focused on 52 nonsmoking employees of bars and restaurants that allowed smoking. They compared NNK levels in the workers' urine with those of 32 workers in areas where laws prohibit smoking in such establishments.

But Stark pointed out that "this is workplace exposure that is completely avoidable."

| Tags: Addiction, Public Health and Safety, Smoking Cessation |

Labels: Addiction, Cancer, Children's Health, Public Health, Smoking Cessation, Women's Health

Posted by Klodian at 8:53 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Long-term and current smokers have a lower risk of Parkinson's disease than the general population, researchers say in a report that confirms previous observations that people with Parkinson's disease were less likely to be smokers.

Dr. Beate Ritz of the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Public Health and colleagues analyzed data from 11,809 people involved in 11 studies conducted between 1960 and 2004. Of those, 2,816 individuals had Parkinson's disease.

The data showed that current smokers and those who had continued to smoke within five years of Parkinson's disease diagnosis had the lowest risk. People who quit smoking up to 25 years before diagnosis also had a reduced risk. Other tobacco products such as cigars, pipe tobacco and chewing tobacco showed reduced risk as well.

The association between tobacco use and Parkinson's disease disappeared for people older than 75, however. And while the association was strong for people of Caucasian or Asian ancestry, it did not hold for Hispanics or blacks.

| Tags: Addiction, Smoking Cessation |

Labels: Addiction, Public Health, Smoking Cessation

Posted by Klodian at 8:50 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Would-be moms often want to know how to trim their bellies after having children. But how actively do they seek tips for getting their bodies in great shape before getting pregnant?

Until recently, that part of the baby-making equation had been largely absent from the discussion. Increasingly, though, maternal health and prenatal-care experts are urging women to improve their health before conceiving.

The hope is that measures taken to bolster a woman's health prior to conception -- whether it's reaching an optimal weight, controlling a chronic disease or boosting overall nutritional health -- will improve the odds of having an uncomplicated pregnancy and a healthy baby.

Dr. Lorey H. Pollack, director of obstetrics and gynecology at Mercy Medical Center in Rockville Centre, N.Y., has some patients who are very informed and motivated to take better care of themselves before contemplating pregnancy. Others, though, come in pregnant and say, "By the way, I have diabetes; by the way, I have Lupus; by the way, I have high blood pressure, and they're kind of shocked to find out that's an issue when they're pregnant," he said.

Pollack blames the medical profession and the media for failing to get the word out.

But recommendations compiled by experts at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as well as more than 35 government, public and private partners may help to draw attention to the importance of preconception care.

Dr. Hani K. Atrash, associate director for program development at the CDC's National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and co-author of the government report, said, "If a woman or couple has decided to conceive, then at least one pre-pregnancy visit is recommended, and the five most important things to do are":
- Take 400 micrograms of folic acid a day for at least three months before pregnancy to reduce the risk of birth defects.
- Stop smoking and drinking alcohol.
- Consult with a health-care provider to manage any and all medical conditions, including, but not limited to, asthma, diabetes, oral health, obesity, or epilepsy, and maintain up-to-date vaccinations.
- Talk to your doctor and pharmacist about any over-the-counter and prescription medicines you are taking, including vitamins and dietary or herbal supplements.
- Avoid exposure to toxic substances or potentially infectious materials at work or at home, such as chemicals, or cat and rodent feces.
- Atrash was also co-editor of a special supplement of the Maternal and Child Health Journal, published last September, devoted entirely to the topic of preconception care.

"It's always easier to try to prevent a problem than to catch up with it later on," he reasoned.

More information
For more on preconception health, visit the American Pregnancy Association.

Sourse - HealthDay News

| Tags: Pregnancy, Relationships, Women's Health |

Labels: Asthma, Children's Health, Diabetes, Nutrition, Oral Care, Pregnancy, Public Health, Relationships, Women's Health

Posted by Klodian at 8:57 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Planning for your summer vacation involves more than looking at brochures, packing, and traveling to your destination. You also need to protect your health, says Dr. Kathy Alvarez, a family medicine physician at Baylor All Saints Medical Center in Forth Worth, Texas.

She offers the following advice for having a healthy vacation:

- Talk to you doctor about where you're going and whether you need any immunizations. This is especially important if you're traveling to other countries, but it's also a good idea for those traveling in their own countries.
- Be sure to bring all important health-related information and medical supplies. "Carry a list of the medications you're taking and any allergies you have, your doctor's name and phone number, and your health insurance information," Alvarez said in a prepared statement. "If you take daily doses of medication, pack a couple of extra days' worth just in case your plans change or your transportation home is delayed."
- Do your best to avoid germs in planes, taxis, when exchanging money, and in other travel-related settings and situations. Washing your hands as often as possible can reduce your risk of getting sick.
- Drink only bottled water, which should also be used to brush your teeth. Don't eat any food that's been washed or cooked in water, unless it's been boiled. Don't drink beverages with ice.
- Don't overeat. "Try to limit splurging to only one meal a day, and share high-fat and high-calorie dishes with a friend," Alvarez said. If possible, avoid buffets.
- Stay active on your holidays by planning outings that involve plenty of walking.

More information
The MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia offers more travel health tips.

Sourse - HealthDay News

| Tags: Children's Health, Digestive, Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Allergy, Children's Health, Digestive, Public Health

Posted by Klodian at 8:48 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

More than 100 students and teachers from a school in Bangladesh have been admitted to hospital after suffering convulsions, police said on Saturday.

The cause of their sudden illness was being investigated.

The victims fell ill at Adiabad School and College near Narshingdi district town, 55 km (34 miles) northeast of the capital Dhaka, a police inspector said.

Twenty-three people died in Bangladesh in 2004 from a mysterious disease later diagnosed as an encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain caused by a viral infection. Dozens more were infected with the disease, which some had feared was bird flu.

Bird flu in Bangladesh since March this year has forced authorities to cull nearly 255,000 chickens and destroy more than 2.2 million eggs.

Authorities said there was no case of human infection.

| Tags: Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Flu Health, Public Health

Posted by Klodian at 8:47 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Not exactly, but some doctors have found a way to use a videoconferencing robot to check on patients while they're miles from the hospital.

One is at Baltimore's Sinai Hospital. Outfitted with cameras, a screen and microphone, the joystick-controlled robot is guided into the rooms of Dr. Alex Gandsas' patients where he speaks to them as if he were right there.

"The system allows you to be anywhere in the hospital from anywhere in the world," said the surgeon, who specializes in weight-loss surgery.

Besides his normal morning and afternoon in-person rounds, Gandsas uses the $150,000 robot to visit patients at night or when problems arise. The robot can circle the bed and adjust the position of its two cameras, giving "the perception from the patient's standpoint that the doctor is there," the surgeon said.

"They love it. They'd rather see me through the robot," he said of his patients' reaction to the machine.

| Tags: Public Health and Safety, Weight Loss |

Labels: Public Health, Weight Loss

Posted by Klodian at 8:46 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Liver spots are light brown patches of skin that commonly appear in people aged 40 and older. But they have nothing to do with the liver or liver function, the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM) says.

Instead, these areas of increased pigmentation may be a normal result of aging, or exposure to the sun or ultraviolet light.

Liver spots are most often found on the backs of the hands, the forearms, shoulders, forehead, and elsewhere that is exposed to the sun, the NLM says.

Although they may be cosmetically unappealing, liver spots are harmless. Bleaching creams or lotions may help reduce their appearance, and freezing or laser treatments may destroy them, the NLM says.

Sourse - HealthDay News

| Tags: Public Health and Safety, Skin and Beauty |

Labels: Public Health, Skin and Beauty

Posted by Klodian at 9:45 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

The first skin patch to treat the dementia that can plague Alzheimer's patients gained federal approval, a drug company said Monday.
The drug in the patch, called Exelon or rivastigmine, is the same as that now available in capsule form but provides a regular and continuous dose throughout the day, according to Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. Since the drug enters the bloodstream directly, the patch also eliminates some of the gastrointestinal side effects associated with the drug when swallowed.

The drug is meant to treat the symptoms of mild to moderate dementia in patients with Alzheimer's disease. It also won Food and Drug Administration approval to treat patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease dementia, Novartis said.

Rivastigmine isn't a cure. It inhibits the breakdown of a chemical in the brain called acetylcholine, thought important for both learning and memory.

| Tags: Public Health and Safety, Skin and Beauty |

Labels: Public Health, Skin and Beauty

Posted by Klodian at 5:05 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

A gene that is strongly associated with a risk of developing childhood onset asthma was identified by an international team of scientists, whose findings are published Wednesday in the journal Nature.

In a genetic study of more than 2,000 children, scientists from the University of Michigan and colleagues from London, France and Germany found genetic markers that dramatically increase a child's risk for asthma.

These markers are located on chromosome 17, and children with this marker had higher levels of a new gene called ORMDL3 in their blood, which occurs in higher amounts in children with asthma. The presence of the disease-associated version of ORMDL3 increases the risk of asthma by 60-70 percent, the study suggests.

"In terms of an asthma gene, there have been quite a few reports but not one that can be clearly reproduced in samples," said Goncalo Abecasis from University of Michigan School of Public Health.
"I think eventually it will lead to new therapies because it points to a specific biological molecular pathway. Once we understand the biology and we know the players, it's possible to target with specific drugs."

Sourse - Xinhua

| Tags: Allergy, Asthma, Children's Health |

Labels: Allergy, Asthma, Children's Health, Public Health

Posted by Klodian at 5:10 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

Studies show that the incidence of mental illness on college campuses is rising, and a new survey of 2,785 college students indicates that more than half of students with significant symptoms of anxiety or depression do not seek help.

This is despite the fact that resources are available at no cost on campus, said Daniel Eisenberg, assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. Eisenberg and doctoral students Sarah Gollust and Ezra Golberstein conducted the Web-based survey in an attempt to quantify mental health service use and factors associated with whether or not students seek help.

A study looking at the same issues at 12-15 universities nationwide will begin this fall, Eisenberg said.


For more on Eisenberg, see: http://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/faculty/profile.cfm?uniqname=daneis

| Tags: Anxiety, Public Health and Safety, Sleeping Disorders |

Labels: Anxiety, Depression, Public Health, Sleeping Disorders

Posted by Klodian at 4:22 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

A relatively new sexually transmitted infection has surpassed Neisseria gonorrhea in prevalence among young adults in the US, according to a new study.
Mycoplasma genitalium was first identified in the 1980s. It can cause inflammation of the urethra (the urinary passage from the bladder), in men, and inflammation of the cervix and the lining of the uterus in women, possibly leading to infertility. However, it seems many cases of the infection are symptom-free.
In the current study, researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, tested 1714 women and 1218 men between the ages of 18 and 27 years participating in Wave III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health.
Results of the study are published in the American Journal of Public Health. The investigators found Mycoplasma genitalium infection in 1.0 percent of the participants. In contrast, the prevalence of gonorrhea was 0.4 percent. The prevalence of chlamydia infection was 4.2 percent.
The prevalence of Mycoplasma genitalium infection was 11 times higher among individuals living with a sexual partner, seven times higher among blacks and four times higher among those who use condoms during sex.
None of the genitalium-positive individuals had any discharge.
"Many M. genitalium infections are asymptomatic, like chlamydial infections," principal investigator Dr. Lisa Manhart told Reuters Health. "However, unlike chlamydia, it is probably too soon to recommend widespread screening for M. genitalium."
There are no commercial tests to detect the organism, she explained. Furthermore, she and her colleagues note in their report that it is not clear "whether M. genitalium-infected persons require or benefit from treatment -- and if so, what antimicrobial therapy should be recommended."

| Tags: Men's Health, Sexual Health, Women's Health |

Labels: Men's Health, Public Health, Sexual Health, Women's Health

Posted by Dottore at 4:17 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

UNAIDS on Friday released new guidelines that aim to ensure that the confidentiality of people living with HIV/AIDS is not compromised when collecting and storing information about the disease, UN News Service reports. The guidelines were developed through a workshop supported by UNAIDS and the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (UN News Service, 6/22).

The guidelines, called the "Interim Guidelines on Protecting the Confidentiality and Security of HIV Information," provide principles, definitions and technical recommendations to maintain confidentiality, privacy and security when working with HIV-related information (UNAIDS release, 6/21). According to the guidelines, using information for public health purposes must be balanced against individual rights to privacy and confidentiality, UN News Service reports. The recommendations also include a call for countries to establish confidentiality and privacy laws to maintain that balance (UN News Service, 6/22).

"Good clinical information is required for optimum treatment and care for people living with HIV," Eddy Beck, a UNAIDS senior technical officer, said. He added, "Ensuring this information is securely stored and confidentiality maintained will avoid potential stigmatization and discrimination of individuals and communities, and enhance the quality of the information collected." According to UNAIDS, the guidelines will be field tested and additional training materials will be developed (UNAIDS release, 6/21).

| Tags: Breast Cancer, HIV and AIDS, Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Breast Cancer, Cancer, HIV and AIDS, Public Health

Posted by Dottore at 1:29 PM | Digg it | Del.icio.us | Comments

U.S. hospitals that switched from using doctors' handwritten prescriptions to computerized drug ordering systems had a 66 percent drop in medication errors, say the authors of a review that looked at the results of 12 studies.
The findings are published online in the journal Health Services Research.

Almost 25 percent of U.S. hospital patients experience medication errors, such as receiving an incorrect dosage, the wrong drug, medication at the wrong time, or no medication at all. Each year, medication errors injure or kill more than 500,000 U.S. hospital patients, according to background information in the review.

Illegible handwriting on prescriptions and transcription mistakes cause as many as 61 percent of medication errors, the experts said.

"These medication errors are very painful for doctors, as well as the patients. Nobody wants to make a mistake," lead author Tatyana Shamliyan, a research associate at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, said in a prepared statement.

She and her colleagues found that hospitals with the highest rate of medication errors -- more than 12 percent -- showed the most improvement when they switched to computerized drug ordering systems.

They also found that while the use of computerized systems reduced medication errors overall, there was no decrease in one type of error -- prescribing the wrong drug.

Currently, only about 9 percent of U.S. hospitals have computerized prescription systems, which can take 12 to 36 months to implement.

| Tags: Public Health and Safety |

Labels: Public Health

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